


A Milano Christmas

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 17:39:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2701553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I wanna do Christmas this year," Peter declared one day on the Milano. It was chronologically morning, but they were on a shipping route in deep space, so there was a distinct lack of bright light. The Milano was in conservation mode on top of that, so everything was dark and dim, perfect for recalling winter on Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Milano Christmas

"I wanna do Christmas this year," Peter declared one day on the Milano. It was chronologically morning, but they were on a shipping route in deep space, so there was a distinct lack of bright light. The Milano was in conservation mode on top of that, so everything was dark and dim, perfect for recalling winter on Earth.

"What is that? Some warrior's ritual?" Gamora asked, frowning at Peter.

"What? No! It's a holiday! You had holidays growing up, didn't you?"

"What's a holiday?" Drax asked.

"No, you guys seriously didn't have holidays? Or, you know, festival days?"

"Oh. There were harvest rest days on my world," Drax told him solemnly. "There were no festivities on such days. There was much rest and conservation of energies after the harvests. They are very strenuous, and drain farmers greatly."

"All right. Sort of what I mean. Special food or traditions, then?"

Drax looked a bit irritated. "There is rest."

"O-kay," Peter drawled in reply, turning to Gamora. ""You didn't dance, so that wouldn't have been a part of any celebrations."

"There were no celebrations, only survival," she replied stiffly, as if he was an idiot for not realizing. "You talk of nonsense."

"Well, no," Peter protested. "Childish, maybe. But even grownups got to get together and booze it up on a holiday. Eat good food, insult each other for stupid shit they did during the year..." He looked over at Rocket. "C'mon, you had to have had _some_ kind of celebrations."

"Science experiment, remember?" Rocket snapped, clearly irritated with him.

"I mean _after_ that, when you were on your own. Or with Groot."

"Oh, like a job gone right and getting' a payday? Yeah, there was celebrating. Getting some drinks, starting a bar fight, blowing something up... You know, the usual."

"So nothing special for any of you?" Peter insisted, looking over at his shipmates.

"I am Groot," Groot intoned solemnly.

"Yeah. Where are you going with this?" Rocket asked, looking at Peter suspiciously.

"Well, this area... Kinda reminds me of houses with Christmas lights up. And how dark it got early in the day, how cold... So, I wanna do Christmas. You know, celebrate all of us coming together on the ship."

"We are comrades," Drax said. "There is no need to celebrate this."

"Yes, there is!" Peter insisted, really warming to the idea despite their indifferent reception. He grinned widely. "Because we should have a tradition, all right? Where we get together and celebrate being together."

"We are not intimate with each other," Drax replied.

Gamora rolled her eyes at him and huffed in annoyance. "He's not saying we should be together to mate," she told Drax. "He means that we have eluded death and survived."

"Yeah!" Peter cried, grinning and pointing at her. "What she said."

"Oh. That is good. Because men cannot produce children on each other, and should not mate with beasts or trees."

Rocket bared his teeth at Drax, but Groot merely nodded serenely and said "I am Groot."

"There's no mating involved, all right?" Peter cried, stepping between Drax and Rocket. "Just... You know, drinks and fancy food. Music."

"I will not partake of your pelvic sorcery," Gamora snapped at Peter, pointing to his chest.

"Dude! It's not sorcery, it's _dancing."_

"Whatever it is, it is not appropriate and not necessary for survival," Gamora insisted.

"I am Groot," Groot interjected, smiling slightly at Peter. The human had to look to Rocket for a translation of sorts.

"The big guy wants to hear about Christmas."

"Well, there are lights strung up everywhere, and decorations, and garlands on a tree, along with ornaments and festive music..."

"I am Groot!" Groot said enthusiastically.

"No, you doofus!" Rocket cried. "We will _not_ decorate you! It's beneath your dignity."

"He is the only tree we have," Drax pointed out.

"Yeah, man. And if the tree wants some decorations, who are we to say no?" Peter asked.

Gamora rolled her eyes again. She tended to do that a lot. "But we do not have any of these Christmas decorations you speak of."

"No problem! We'll make some!" Peter clapped his hands with glee like a little boy. "And even better, we get each other presents! We stick 'em under the tree until Christmas morning, then open 'em up."

"Presents?" Rocket cried. "Why didn't you say so before? I'm in."

"I am Groot."

"I would enjoy receiving presents from my friends," Drax told them.

Gamora looked disgusted and rolled her eyes at them. "Okay, fine, whatever."

Peter grinned. "This is going to be _awesome."_

***

They all kept gift ideas secret, and tried to do their shopping at various outposts when alone. Or make things; Peter had carefully explained that handmade gifts could be "perfectly crappy" but still mean a lot to the recipient. "It's the thought that counts, you know? You get something _they_ want or need, not what _you_ want or need." He was especially gleeful at the thought of a gift exchange. "C'mon, guys. Let's make this awesome."

Some of the gifts Peter wanted to give were easy: Rocket would get projectile weaponry, and Gamora would get some finely wrought blades. Drax and Groot were harder to figure out, though he supposed that some sketching materials might do for Drax, so that he could draw out some of his memories. He was a literal kind of guy, so saying it was art therapy wouldn't help very much. For Groot... Well, after a while, Peter started thinking that maybe he could make a scale model of the little tree, so that when he got to be the colossus part of the Flora Colossus species name, he'd remember how little he was. He covered up the crafts part of his gifting by using the same stiff cable wire to make garlands and wreaths for the Milano. Some of the broken glass and spent shell casings from jobs wound up becoming hanging ornaments dangling rather cheerfully around the ship.

Peter was rather proud of himself. Trying to talk about Christmas as a kid just got more threats to be eaten, so he had swallowed down the wistful hopes for a holiday. Despite the initial reluctance of the others, they started getting into the spirit of it. Peter wasn't the only one making ornaments out of random detritus around the ship, and they all had earmarked their hiding spots around the ship to keep their gifts a surprise.

With the Milano on low light settings, the frayed wire garlands, glass ornaments and frilled metal ornaments sparkled and twinkled. Peter was practically hopping around, and Groot grinned and gleefully said "I am Groot!" while waving his arms. Still in his pot, the Colossus Flora was about two feet tall now. Rocket had reported that Groot would need to grow a bit more before his roots were strong enough to form legs. In the meantime, he waved his arms and pantomimed if Rocket wasn't around to translate.

"Here," Gamora said abruptly, handing Peter a small wrapped package. "We start with this, and then exchange the other gifts."

Opening it, he laughed delightedly at the cassette tape labeled "Best of Queen." Peter grinned at her. "Where'd you find it? I couldn't find any stuff like this from Earth before."

"Because I have better contacts than you," she replied haughtily. But then she grinned at him and gestured to the wall cassette player. "Go on, try it. I want to hear something new."

Laughing, Peter peeled off the cellophane wrapper and opened the cassette case to pop it into the player. Dancing around the ship, Peter laughed harder at Groot's grooving in the pot. When Gamora shook her head and moved to another part of the ship, Peter got his gifts for everyone out of his hiding spot and piled them beneath Groot. The baby Colossus grinned with pleasure as he said "I am Groot!"

"That you are, bud," Peter declared, stepping back. The corners on his package weren't very neat, but everyone's gift was wrapped, at least.

Following Gamora's suggestion, everyone gathered around Groot after depositing their presents around his pot. He was grinning and undulating with pleasure within his pot, tiny white florets sprouting along his back and shoulders. "You're making his _year,"_ Rocket groused a little, arms crossed over his chest. "Now we're going to have to do this stupid thing again. He likes it! The idiot likes it!"

Peter took small bits of garland and glass shard ornaments to drape and hang along Groot's body, making him coo "I am Groot!" in a pleased manner. "Hey, if we're all still together in a year, I say we do it to celebrate."

"So you're an idiot, too!" Rocket replied.

"Never said I couldn't be," Peter replied with an easy grin, just to annoy Rocket.

It worked, and the raccoon huffed and tossed a package at him. "Here! Open it!"

Drax batted away the bit of wrapping paper that flew in his direction as Peter opened it a little too enthusiastically. It hit Gamora, who scowled at him, but he was too busy leaning forward to see Rocket's gift. It was a portable CD player and a few CD's. He crossed his arms and preened at Peter's gape. "Yours is a Walkman, whatever that is. I found a _Discman._ It's digital, and therefore better than your analog tapes. These won't unspool."

"They could crack."

"But with digital, you can make multiple copies very easily," Drax declared. He snagged one of the discs and looked at it. "Vanilla Ice. I was not aware that ice came in flavors on your planet."

"Huh. Apparently, they do," he mused. "Fantastic. New music! Thanks, Rocket."

Rocket waved off the appreciation, wadding up the torn wrapping paper and tossing it at Peter's head. "C'mon, don't be an idiot. Let's open presents!"

Gamora cleared her throat. "Turns, or all at once?"

"All at once, of course!" Rocket declared. Drax grabbed the biggest box next to Groot. "Hey! That's mine! I see my name on it!"

"Of course it's yours," Drax huffed, handing it to Rocket. "That's my gift to you."

That rendered the raccoon speechless, until he opened it. "A new space suit! Just my size."

"Most difficult to find," Drax said with a solemn nod. "But there was a craftsman willing to make it after I saved his life."

Drax got new clothes from Rocket and Peter, as well as a set of elaborate hunting knives from Gamora. Groot had crafted a picture frame from his branches, weaving a few of the florets into the corners. Rocket had apparently found a picture of his deceased wife and child from Nova's archives. The gift left Drax stunned, and he cradled it in his hands. "It is their likeness," he told them in a hushed tone, eyes suspiciously shiny. "They are whole here, not like the last time I had seen them. This is a better way to remember them."

"And on that note," Peter said, handing a box over to Rocket that he had missed in his own shredding of wrapping paper and boxes. The pile of electronics, detonating devices and ammunition was downright scary. "This one's from me," he said unnecessarily.

"Andalusian gut rot," Rocket said in appreciation as he lifted out the bottle. It was surprisingly high in alcohol content, illegal in seven systems and at least three minor moons. Of course, that meant it was Rocket's favorite drink if he could get it.

"You're welcome," Peter grinned, surrounded by new music to listen to and a book about Earth that had been written with interstellar travel in mind. That had been Drax's contribution, with the explanation that he had been so long away from his home planet that he would need to study in order to fit in.

"Your gifts have been surprisingly thoughtful," Gamora said. She had gotten clothes, boots with built in weapon sheaths, and weapons to fit said sheaths; those coordinating gifts had been from Rocket and Groot. "I appreciate this holiday."

"I am Groot," Groot said with a nod, waving his arms. That made the ornaments chink and jingle, which he liked the sound of.

"Yeah, well, I think we already established, I'm not 100% dick. So, I can do nice things every once in a while. And man, these gifts are pretty sweet."

"How can you tell?" Drax asked, brows furrowed. "You have not tasted your gifts." He reached out for a CD case. "Can I try it?"

"No, no, no, it's a figure of speech. Sweet, meaning nice. Good. They're good gifts."

"Of course they're good gifts. There is no sense in giving you bad ones."

"Huh. Yeah. Point to you, big guy."

Drax settled into his seat, content, and the others smiled knowingly at each other. "This is good," Drax said with a small smile. "I have kept track of these points you give me. I'm up to one thousand and five."

"I do give you a lot of points, don't I?" Peter commented.

"Yes. And I have been meaning to ask... What are these points for?"

Peter thought about it for a moment. "How about a thousand points gives you an extra portion at dinnertime?" he offered.

The grin on his face was worth it. "I like this points game. I have also kept track of all points we've given each other. You have seven hundred twenty-eight, Rocket has nine hundred and three, and Gamora has nine hundred eighty-six."

"Looks like I'm next to get extra rations," Gamora preened.

"Why am I so far behind?" Peter groused.

"Because you don't make sense," Drax answered promptly.

"And you get us into trouble," Rocket pointed out.

Peter shot them all a sullen look. "Gee, thanks," he muttered sarcastically.

"You are quite welcome," Drax replied.

Gamora laughed at Peter's disgruntled expression. "But sometimes, you have good ideas, Peter Quill. I say this event gives you at least five points."

"Yeah? I'll take it." He nodded at them all. "So, Merry Christmas, guys."

"I am Groot!" he said happily, ornaments jingling.

"Yeah, yeah," Rocket said. "Now, let's eat!"

Some things never changed, even on a holiday.

The End


End file.
